If current enrollment numbers are any indication, he or she is probably on the campus of Arkansas Tech University.

Tech is currently in the process of welcoming the largest freshman class in university history with 1,377 incoming students. The figure represents an increase of 90 percent in freshman enrollment from the fall of 1997, when only 724 new students enrolled.

In fact, over the last six years, Tech as a whole has grown by 40 percent in headcount enrollment.

After the 11th day of class Thursday, Tech has reported the final enrollment numbers for the fall 2003 semester. For the fifth consecutive year, Tech will begin the fall semester with a record enrollment of 5,942 students.

President Dr. Robert C. Brown was quick to offer praise to the faculty and staff at the university for this year's success story on enrollment.

"We know that we continue to grow in part because of the excellence of our faculty and the personal attention they offer to our students," Brown said.

Perhaps the better number than the freshman class or enrollment overall, is the 3.7 percent increase since 2002 of student semester credit hours.

Not only is Tech enrolling more students, but those students are taking more classes. The overall growth of credit hours taken by students during the last six years has actually increased more than enrollment by 9.3 percent.

Brown credited the carefully planned and executed enrollment management program and the director of enrollment management, Shauna Donnell, and her staff.

As part of its 1995 strategic plan, Tech set a goal to enroll between 5,900 and 6,100 students on a permanent basis, and at the same time increase academic qualifications of incoming freshmen.

The idea behind the plan was to accept only those students who had a real promise of obtaining a degree. Officials at Tech will admit that they expected the enrollment numbers to suffer in the beginning, but just two years later in 1998, enrollment began to increase. It hasn't stopped climbing since.

The strategic plan also resulted in the addition of 25 new programs, several academic accreditations and the investment of more than $75 million in facilities and equipment.

Brown outlined three possible scenarios for Tech for the future.

One path, he said, would be for Tech to stay the same as it is currently - to continue to enroll around 6,000 students and keep academic standards and programs the same.

Another path would focus on quantity growth. Brown said that campus could possibly be expanded to 8,500 students, serving more people, but possibly losing the personal touch associated with Tech.

The third scenario would be to focus on quality growth. This scenario would allow Tech to continue to enroll 5,900 to 6,100 students, but focus academic standards to make Tech the premier institution for engineering, science, applied technology and business for undergraduates in Arkansas.

Brown said a disadvantage to that scenario would be that Tech would become more exclusive and less available to many students in the area.

"The planned future for Arkansas Tech will only be determined after much discussion with our Board of Trustees, faculty, student body, alumni and others," Brown said. "In the past Arkansas Tech has chosen neither to be the biggest nor the most exclusive.

"Our task for the future is to balance the twin considerations of quality and quantity to produce the best situation for our students and the university. We know that a planned future is much preferred over one that simply happens."